LSU’s Legend of “the Chinese Bandits” Re-told [Audio]

It's the stuff of legends.  And that's really what the LSU Tiger football team is all about.  When I went to "Death Valley"  for my first ever LSU Tigers football game (the homecoming game against Western Kentucky) I bowed down to the defense every time they made a big play and that was pretty often.

I noticed the LSU Tiger band was playing a tune with each major  defensive play,  but I had no idea what that tune was until Tom called in to the KWKH Morning Show today.   It was the Chinese Bandits.  And it's quite a legend.  This is Tom telling me about it on the radio this morning.

According to articles on The Internet,  in 1958,  LSU head football coach Paul Dietzel came up with a unique 3-team platoon system.  It consisted of 3 teams of 11 different players, and was designed to keep his players from being tired in an era when most players started on both offense and defense.

Instead of replacing individual players during the game, Dietzel would bring in an entirely new set of players between plays and series. The three teams were called the White Team (the first-string offense and defense), the Gold (Go) Team (the second-string offense), and the Chinese Bandits (the second-string defense).

The system worked, as the Tigers went undefeated and won the 1958 national championship.  The Chinese Bandits second-string defensive unit, which consisted of less-talented but ferocious players, became hugely popular with LSU fans and remains one of the most legendary pieces of LSU football history.

http://youtu.be/jFXorcG9Eoo

The "Cheerleaders"  singing the song are actually  Roland Stone and Bobby Lonero,  of  New Orleans.

Here's an mp3 of the song: